Giants’ Matt Moore honored to start home opener

Updated 8:44 pm, Thursday, April 6, 2017

PHOENIX — The last Giants starter to throw a regular-season and postseason pitch at AT&T Park will throw the first in 2017 there Monday, barring an unforeseen change, and should get a nice ovation for all he did down the stretch.

Matt Moore will face the Diamondbacks for the second time after taking the loss in Wednesday night’s game at Chase Field.

This will be a first for Moore. He did not start any opener, home or road, during his years with Tampa Bay.

Moore views the assignment as an honor, even if it is simply the way the schedule falls.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I think the way things went last season, my first few starts at home not being my best starts, to still have their support like that and for everything to feel as good as it did there in the end, with the energy in the building, you’re looking to continue that to a good year for us.”

Moore lost his first two home games, to the Pirates and Mets, after his acquisition in August, allowing eight runs over 11 innings.

That all was forgotten by the time he held the Dodgers to three hits and one run in Game 162, a 7-1 victory that ensured the Giants’ postseason spot, and then had a strong Game 4 of the Division Series against the Cubs. Moore pitched eight innings again and delivered a 5-2 lead to the bullpen, which allowed four ninth-inning runs in a loss that ended the Giants’ season.

Photo: Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press

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Matt Moore started Game 4 of the 2016 Division Series against the Cubs, what proved to be their final game of the season.

Matt Moore started Game 4 of the 2016 Division Series against the Cubs, what proved to be their final game of the season.

Photo: Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press

Giants’ Matt Moore honored to start home opener

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Odd injury:Bullpen catcher Taira Uematsuwill be out six to seven weeks after suffering an unusual injury Wednesday. Uematsu’s left thumb was broken in three places when he caught a Hunter Strickland pitch from an odd angle.

“I told him he’ll probably need two to three months to rehab in Sacramento, and he started panicking,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

The River Cats will need a new bullpen catcher to replace Travis Higgs, who on Friday will join Eli Whitesidewarming up Giants pitchers.

Briefly: Pitcher Albert Suarez is on the Triple-A disabled list with a shoulder injury. ... Pitcher Jose Dominguez, who had a nice early spring training with the Giants, drew a 142-game suspension for a second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs, in this case, stanozolol.